President Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton Open CGI’s 10th Annual Meeting Focused on “Reimagining Impact”
New York, NY – Today, President Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton opened the 10th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting themed “Reimagining Impact.” The meeting brings together more than 1,000 world leaders from the business, government, and philanthropic sectors, who have created Commitments to Action that tackle issues like education, poverty, the environment, and empowering women and girls. Commitments to Action are new, specific and measurable plans that address pressing global challenges.
“As CGI begins its tenth Annual Meeting, I am enormously proud of the progress our members have made, and the action-oriented approach that hundreds of global leaders are taking,” said President Clinton. “Over the next three days, I look forward to seeing the commitments that our members are making, and the discussions in the coming days that lead to real action items.”
Highlights from the first day of the Annual Meeting included:
- Featured speakers such as His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Peter Agnefjäll, President and CEO, IKEA Group; Michelle Bachelet, President of the Republic of Chile; David Crane, President and CEO, NRG Energy, Inc.; Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of the Republic of Iceland; Donna Karan, Founder, Urban Zen; Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group; Gina McCarthy, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Christopher Mikkelsen, Founder and Co-CEO, Refugees United; José María Figueres Olsen, Former President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Carbon War Room; Henry M. Paulson Jr., Chairman, The Paulson Institute; Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation; Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President, and CEO, IBM; Charlie Rose, Anchor and Executive Editor of “Charlie Rose” and “Charlie Rose: The Week”, Co-Anchor of “CBS This Morning”; Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister of Denmark; Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Georgetown University; Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson;
- Prince Albert of Monaco was joined by President of the Waitt Foundation Ted Waitt to announce the Pristine Seas Commitment to Action, which will create 20 new oceanic preserves over the next five years;
- President Clinton’s announced “Oceans: A CGI Action Network Meeting,” taking place March 2015 in Boston to bring together leaders from business, government, civil society and philanthropy to address ocean conservation;
- “Reimagining Impact,” the day’s opening plenary session featuring comments from His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein about the Syrian refugee crisis;
- In the session “Is Climate Change Good Economics?,” featured speakers discussed the ways in which they will help combat the climate crisis – including Michael Lamach, CEO of Ingersoll-Rand, industry leader in mobile and industrial refrigeration, and Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles. Lamach announced that his company will reduce its carbon footprint by 50 percent and invest $500 million into the research of climate-friendly refrigerants. The mayors of Los Angeles, Houston, and Philadelphia joined together to launch the first Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda – a Commitment to Action to push for green reform in cities across the U.S.
More information on all participants and speakers can be found here.
Commitments announced in Plenary Sessions today include:
Small Business, Big impact
Commitment by: Sodexo
Sodexo committed $1 Billion to creating a more inclusive global supply chain for its hospitality products, forming partnerships between its local operations and small to medium sized businesses run by women in the developing world. By working with female farmers and manufacturers, Sodexo will not only improve the lives of those women, it will boost local economies by linking up small businesses to the rest of the world. “Small Business, Big Impact,” will also offer training to help owners take their companies to the next competitive level.
ImPACT Africa: Improving Perioperative & Anesthetic Care Training
Commitment by: The GE Foundation
Partner(s): Vanderbilt University, Center for Public Health Development, Maseno University, Center for Public Health Development, Maseno University, Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), Maseno University, Kijabe Hospital
Over the next three years, GE Foundation and its partners will expand their work to address maternal and infant mortality in the Nyanza Province of Western Kenya by targeting the administering of anesthesia and perioperative care in the event of surgical interventions in childbirth. Through this commitment, “ImPACT Africa,” GE Foundation and partners will train 25 nurse anesthetists and expand its services to three additional hospitals. Further, the commitment will develop a comprehensive perioperative care training Center of Excellence (COE) to address each stage of surgical care in a comprehensive manner and provide ongoing training to obstetric and anesthesia care teams.
Making a Service Year Part of American Life
Commitment by: The National Service Alliance, Cisco, and Lumina Foundation
The National Service Alliance has joined forces with the Cisco Fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the Lumina Foundation to launch Service Year, a four-year campaign to encourage 18-28 year olds to engage in a year of service as a strategy to tackle the nation’s most pressing challenges, while empowering and developing the next generation of civic leaders. By 2017, this initiative aims to create 30,000 new Service Year opportunities, with the goal of creating one million service opportunities annually by 2023.
Pristine Seas
Commitment by: National Geographic
Partners: The Waitt Foundation, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, Jynwel Foundation, Leona and Harry Helmsley Charitable Trust, Blancpain, Linblad Expedition, Dynamic Planet, Prince Albert of Monaco.
National Geographic and its partners committed to expanding oceanic conservation efforts to 20 of the best preserved parts of the remote ocean over the next 5 years. In their environmental efforts, the partners hope to be able to shift local economies out of fishing and into ecotourism. The commitment will also involve releasing awareness raising documentaries about newly protected regions to garner public support and interest. Target areas for 2015 include the Last Ice Area of Northern Greenland, the Patagonian Fjords in Chile and the outer atolls of the Seychelles. This commitment will be followed by a special ocean themed announcement.
Entrepreneurship and Workforce Resilience Program
Commitment by: Bluedrop Learning Networks
Over the next 3 years, Bluedrop will provide a free, country-wide training platform for up to 30,000 vulnerable people in Jordan. The organization will provide its learning platform to help build the local training capacity required to better equip marginalized groups in Jordan for new jobs, entrepreneurship and small business success. Bluedrop’s Entrepreneurship and Workforce Resilience Program is directed at supporting affected and vulnerable populations to deal with the effects of the crisis in the short-term, while at the same time, building national and local capacity to scale up and sustain recovery.
Wind Prosperity for Jordan
Commitment by: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Partner(s): EP Global Energy; Temple Bright LLP
As part of its Wind for Prosperity program, Vestas and EP Global Energy (EPGE) committed to deploy wind energy solutions in Jordan, a country that imports nearly all of its energy and has challenges meeting demands. This issue has been further exacerbated by the growing population of refugees due to the Syrian crisis. Over the next three years, Vestas and EGPE will develop a wind power plant with a total generation capacity between 9MWs and 15MWs. As a result, Vestas will provide energy to the refugee camp, as well as to the local area and local population, impacting at least 15,000 households.
Operation Blue Falcon: Improving Health Access in Jordan
Commitment by: Medtronic, Inc.
Partner(s): Medtronic Foundation; Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization; AmeriCares Foundation, Inc.
Medtronic committed to address the heightened demand for health services and the demands on the Jordanian health care sector to deliver quality services as result of the Syrian refugee crisis. Medtronic will provide direct support to the Ministry of Health to enhance the capacity of cardiology and neuro/spine surgery services in Jordan. To do so, Medtronic staff will assess gaps and bottlenecks at Al Bashir hospital, the largest hospital in Jordan in terms of beds, to improve efficiency as the hospital admits a growing number of patients. In addition, Medtronic will provide medical equipment such as cardiac stents, multichannel ECG recorders, and bone drills, as well as renovate the ER triage area at Al Bashir Hospital, and provide medical fellowships focused primarily on neuro/spine, cardiology and endocrinology. In partnership with Americares and Jordan Health Aid Society, Medtronic will also provide direct support to communities in Jordan that require medical assistance.
Building Community: Resilience in the Middle East
Commitment by: International Medical Corps
Partner(s): TOMS Shoes; Procter & Gamble
International Medical Corps committed to expand public health services and build the capacity of local organizations to meet the needs of refugee and host communities in the four largest refugee-recipient nations of the Syrian refugee crisis: Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. Over the next two years, International Medical Corps and partners will benefit 100,000 people and will provide direct services to meet the most immediate needs. Additionally, teams will strengthen the capacity of partner staff so they can respond flexibly and rapidly to changes triggered by the crisis. This will include training frontline healthcare workers in emergency and public healthcare, and helping partners access the human, material and financial resources they need to respond to a variety of challenges.
Self-Built Transitional Schools for Syrian Refugees
Commitment by: Pilosio Spa
Partner(s): Cameron Sinclair; Jolie-Pitt Foundation
In response to the Syrian refugee crisis and the lack of educational opportunities for the majority of Syrian children living in neighboring countries, Pilosio committed to constructing a deployable, transitional, and easily assembled school structure. The structure will provide a safe space for education as well as for other activities in the community. The pilot school will provide space for up to 100 children to access education, who will then provide feedback on the design for future schools. Contingent on funding, Pilosio will expand the project to 10 schools in Jordan and Turkey.
Syrian Refugee and Resiliency Fund
Commitment by: Global Impact
Global Impact committed to build and manage the Syrian Refugee and Resiliency Fund to provide CGI members with access to a neutral platform to raise funds for Commitments to Action related to the Syrian refugee crisis in areas such as education, healthcare and economic development. Over the next year, Global Impact aims to raise $1 million through the fund, a fiduciary mechanism that will receive contributions from foundations, corporations or individuals. The fund will be presented as a giving option in up to 200 of Global Impact’s workplace giving campaigns and will also be supported by a microsite, which will be a custom, branded platform for online giving methods. Funds will be distributed to commitment partners on a quarterly basis with progress-to-date reports of funds raised.
Reducing Our Climate Impact: For Customers, For Our Company and For a Sustainable Future
Commitment by: Ingersoll Rand
Ingersoll Rand committed to a 50% reduction of its carbon footprint by 2020, investing $500 million into developing greener refrigeration technology. When the Montreal Protocol set dates for the discontinuation of HCFC refrigerants around the world, many manufacturers began using “safer” HCFs, later found to be 1000 times more damaging than CO2 alone. Apart from developing replacements for these harmful chemicals, creating greener air conditioners and refrigeration units, Ingersoll Rand will reduce the amount of refrigerants per unit while introducing harsher leak testing protocols.
Mayor’s National Climate Action Agenda
Commitment by: Cities of Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia
Partner(s): Governor Jerry Brown/California Air Resources Board, California Climate Action Reserve
Cities alone account for over 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
In order to address this, mayors from Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles will form the “Mayor’s National Climate Change Action Agenda”. Each city will develop action plans and appoint officers and staff to create programs that address climate change, implementing strategies that align with the California Cap and Trade Program. The initiative aims to encourage participation from other cities, and promote collaboration by sharing best practices.
The following progress reports were announced today in plenary sessions:
Lighting A Billion Lives
Commitment by: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Partners: The PlanetWorkshops; Buksh Foundation; UMEME; African Centre for Technology Studies
In 2007, TERI committed to spend $9 million over 7 years bringing electricity and light to nearly 1 billion people by expanding solar power. On top of distributing solar lanterns throughout Asia and Africa, the commitment introduced affordable clean energy in many areas and helped start local businesses, building 2200 solar charging stations, 200 solar micro-grids and 5000 solar home stations, reaching more than 700,000 people. Partnering with the Indian Government, TERI is installing another 6000 charging stations in India’s remotest villages, reaching 300,000 more people.
Building A New Business Model For High Impact Businesses
Commitment by: Grassroots Business Fund
Partners(s): Iqbal Paroo, Andrew Adelson, Alan J. Patricof, James Wolfensohn; Omidyar Network, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Calvert Foundation, Norad (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), Adelson Family Foundation, Meyer Foundation, Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), Development Bank of Austria (OeEB), Luxembourg Ministry of Finance
In 2011 the Grassroots Business Fund and its partners committed to support 60 high impact businesses across Africa, Asia and Latin America, providing job and economic opportunities to 20 million people over the next 10 years. Utilizing its private social investment fund Grassroots Business Investors, GBF engages in deals averaging from $500,000 to $1.5 million. As of 2014, GBF has provided $20 million in support, one-third of the way to its $60 million goal.
100 Resilient Cities
Commitment by: The Rockefeller Foundation
Partner(s): Swiss Reinsurance Company; Palantir Technologies, Inc.; World Bank Group; Architecture for Humanity; The American Institute of Architects
In 2013, the Rockefeller Foundation and partners have committed to drive action towards building worldwide urban resilience through the 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge (100 RC). Each of the 100 cities will be supported in hiring a Chief Resilience Officer, gain membership to the 100RC Network, and be provided access to tools and resources. The Rockefeller Foundation will actively engage further partners throughout the course of the 100RC to advance resiliency efforts within the following four areas: policy, community and social resilience, infrastructure, and technology.
Since the Rockefeller Foundation and partners (Swiss Re, Palantir, World Bank Group, Architecture for Humanity, and American Institute for Architects) announced the 100 Resilient Cities initiative (100RC) last year, 100RC has selected 32 inaugural cities to join its network and has held resilience agenda-setting workshops in 19 of those cities. San Francisco and Medellin have appointed two Chief Resilience Officers (CROs), who have begun identifying priority areas using a city-wide resilience diagnostic. The resilience diagnostic maps existing plans and initiatives and exposes gaps between ongoing work and priority areas. By developing and enhancing projects to address these priorities, the cities will create a comprehensive resilience strategy.
Exploring Alternative Energy Solutions for Salt Farmers
Commitment by: Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
In 2011, SEWA committed to helping diesel dependent salt farmers in the Little Rann of the Kutch, desert region of Gujarat, India who spend 70% of their salaries on fuel for their water pumps. By introducing solar power and salt water generators to a pilot group of 200 farmers limiting diesel use to after dark, SEWA found that farmers save 150 liters of diesel a month, totaling 60,000 saved liters a season. With each farmer saving over $1000 in monthly expenses, SEWA will extend the project to another 5000 farmers next season.
An American Serengeti
Commitment by: The American Prairie Reserve
In 2013, the American Prairie Reserve committed to creating the largest wildlife reserve in the continental United States, bringing together 3 million acres of land. Since then, APR has reintroduced 83 bison to the prairie, and begun studying the dynamics of the grassland ecosystem. APR has also partnered with neighboring ranchers, creating “Wild Sky” brand beef, to raise animals in wildlife friendly conditions.
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